A Connecticut Town’s Plan on Collecting and Destroying Video Games: A Sign of Moral Panic

(Originally posted for The Voice of Heard on January 4, 2013)

Last night, I read a Gamespot article that briefly describes how community leaders at Southington, Connecticut are planning to have volunteers give away violent video games, CDs, and DVDs for destruction in exchange for “a gift certificate to a local restaurant, the Lake Compounce amusement park, or a bowling alley.” This is in the wake of last month’s shooting at the neighboring town of Newport that left 20 children and 6 adults dead. While they are not directly linking the games to the tragic incident, the organizers said that this is “suitable time for parents to engage their children in discussions about whether or not playing violent games is appropriate” when “there’s evidence that [they] cause increases in aggressiveness, fear, anxiety and desensitization about actions of violence.”

Scapegoating Video Games in the Wake of the Connecticut Shooting

(Originally posted for The Voice of Heard on December 21, 2012)

Yesterday, I read a Gamespot article about Senator Jay Rockefeller introducing a bill that would call the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to study the violent effects of video games on children, an area in which numerous studies have been done in the past that are either poorly designed or show no correlation between violent video games and aggression. This came in the wake of the recent shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, which raises some serious questions. What does children’s exposure to video games, violent and otherwise, have to do with the actions done by the mentally unstable man responsible? Professional studies and works like Grand Theft Childhood by Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl K. Olson have consistently found no link to playing video games and psychological instability. Yet, there are still a few politicians pressing for more studies to find a link between the two, which I consider to be a waste of time and money.

Kung Fu Superstar: One of the Most Interesting Video Game Ideas of This Generation

(Originally posted for The Voice of Heard on July 5, 2012)

Tonight, I have read a Gamespot article interviewing Kostas Zarifis, a former employee of game company Lionhead Studios (known for its Fable franchise of role-playing games or RPGs), about Kung Fu Superstar, a motion-controlled video game being made for the Xbox 360 and its Kinect motion-controlled peripheral by his recently established independent company, Kinesthetic Games. The game would place players in the role of Danny Chang, a practicing martial artist who dreams of becoming a star in his own martial arts movies. Using the Kinect, players would increase Chang’s skills as well as learn real martial arts moves and skills in what Zarifis called ‘the ultimate RPG.’ Since I play video games and am currently studying karate, I would have to say that Kung Fu Superstar is one of the most interesting video game ideas of this generation. That’s not to say it will replace martial arts schools when it comes to studying martial arts .At the moment, there are no details as to how the Kinect motion-controls will function in the game and when it will be released. I will have to keep an eye out for new information on Kung Fu Superstar as news of the game develops.

The Business of Making Video Games and Buying Them

(Originally posted for The Voice Of Heard on May 6, 2012)

When you want to buy a video game, what factors do you take into consideration? Would you pay $60 for a new game after launch or buy a used copy at a cheaper price? Would you be willing to pay extra for downloadable content? Do you prefer a game made by a major well-known company or one made by an independent and less well-known company; to be more specific, would you rather have a game developed by people working under a strict corporate hierarchy or one by people who follow their own creative principles? Do you want the game to strictly follow a formula, complete with clichés and traditions, that has been established and followed for a number of years or do you want it to bring something unique and innovative to your gaming experience? Upon reading all of this, I’m certain a single question immediately pops into your mind: why ask so many questions about buying video games? To put it simply, my questions stem from a few recent articles I read that raised some interesting and concerning issues regarding video game development, marketing, and sales.

The Latest Info on DmC: Devil May Cry, My Latest Thoughts, and My Conclusion on the Game

(Originally posted for The Voice Of Heard on April 19, 2012)

Seven days ago (or perhaps eight days by the time this was posted), a new trailer and gameplay footage of the video game DmC: Devil May Cry, set to be released sometime this year, have been revealed at Capcom’s annual Captivate event. After viewing them a couple of times, all I can say is this: my impressions are mixed at best and sour at worst. While the graphics (at least those in the demonic-dimension Limbo) and character modeling have been updated and polished since last year, the gameplay looks recycled, slow, and dumbed-down. Ever since the gameplay footage from last year, the enemies seem easier to fight that the ones in the past Devil May Cry games; the “small-fry” in this game seemed like even lesser enemies when compared to the marionettes from the original Devil May Cry and the sin scythes from Devil May Cry 3. The enemy design doesn’t appear too threatening either. Before I get into the latest details regarding the story, I would like to briefly touch upon a movie I’ve seen just a few days ago. That movie is called They Live, a science fiction action film made in 1988, staring professional wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and directed by John Carpenter. The film itself is a parody of consumer culture in which all-powerful aliens from a distant planet are running Earth and manipulating the human population from behind the scenes via consumer products, the media, and the government. This is done with constant bombardment of one-to-three-word messages hidden in signs, labels, and magazine pages, saying things like “Obey,” “Submit to Authority,” “Stay Asleep,” “Marry and Reproduce,” and “No Independent Thought.” Now what does all this have to do with DmC: Devil May Cry, you ask? The story in this game, when taken as a whole, is going to be a consumer culture parody in which all-powerful forces (in this case, its demons from Limbo instead of aliens from outer space) manipulate and control humans via consumer goods, the media, and the government from behind the scenes. When Dante gets dragged into Limbo, messages appear on billboards and signs saying things like “Spend,” “Submit to Debt,” “Gluttony is Good,” and “Homeless for You.” The Captivate trailer also revealed another antagonist that Dante goes up against: a news anchor for the Raptor News Network, a sort of parody of real-life news anchor Bill O’Reily and the real-life news network Fox News, who refers to the main character as a terrorist of the worst kind and “a sexual deviant.” In the latest game demo featured at Captivate, a plot device that strongly suggests a major role in the story is Virility, an energy drink presumably engineered by the demons as another means of subduing the humans. The newly revealed story details I just discussed is sure to raise questions as to originality and, for that matter, actually telling a dark mature story as the game is said to tell.

The Latest Update on DmC: Devil May Cry and My Suspicious Impressions

(Originally posted for The Voice of Heard on March 4, 2012)

The design of Dante's trademark arsenal, the sword Rebellion and the set of handguns named Ebony and Ivory, has been revamped for the upcoming DmC: Devil May Cry.

Just a few days ago, Side Mission, a blog for the gaming website Gametrailers, posted an entry regarding newly revealed information about DmC: Devil May Cry, the latest production of one of Capcom’s most famous video game franchises under development by Ninja Theory and due sometime this year. That information consists of a few new details regarding the past of the game’s revamped protagonist, Dante, and his trademark arsenal, a sword named Rebellion and a pair of handguns named Ebony and Ivory. Dante has been described by Capcom as “[An orphaned] young man with no respect for society in general…[and who is also] caught between the worlds of humans and demons, [making him feel like] an outcast.” As for the arsenal, the design philosophy behind it has been described by GregaMan on the Capcom-Unity blog as:

“[Creating an] impression that they were crafted a long, long time ago and since their creation they have sent innumerable demons to their doom.”

“Ebony & Ivory have straight, clean looking barrels that make them look like contemporary firearms, while the addition of ornate embossing is used to give the guns a feeling of mystique and uniqueness. As you move into the grip you can see that the guns have a more fluid, liquid-like look that adds further mystery and a demonic flavor to their design.”

“Rebellion is designed to look like a powerful sword, with the detailing in the handle giving it a feeling of historical significance coupled with a demonic heritage. The same design ethos that was used for the Ebony & Ivory grips is also true for Rebellion’s hilt, making the weapons match stylistically.”

Should Video Games Focus More on Cinematics, Storytelling, and Spectacles than Gameplay?

(Originally posted for The Voice Of Heard on February 20, 2012)

During the course of my research for my entry on the history of UK-based video game developer Ninja Theory, I have noticed a pattern among their games they have made so far. These games, Kung Fu Chaos, Heavenly Sword, and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, have an Asian theme and their design is generally influenced by cinema. Speaking of cinema, the two latter next-generation games have received critical acclaim mainly for their cinematic storytelling, environmental design, character modeling, motion capture, voice acting, and production values similar to those of Hollywood movies. The gameplay in both games, meanwhile, have been described as having limited depth and is therefore standard or average. In fact, in most of the reviews on Heavenly Sword and Enslaved I’ve read, including those at Gamespot, IGN, and 1up, the cinematics and presentation have received more attention than the gameplay. This observation leads me to ask this question: When it comes to making and selling video games, is it a good idea to place more emphasis on cinematics, storytelling, and spectacle than gameplay, the core of video games? I doubt anybody who has been buying games like Super Mario Brothers, Sonic the Hedgehog, Metroid, Zelda, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Call of Duty, Battlefield, Gears of War, God of War, Tekken, Resident Evil, and many other titles would do so just to watch spectacles. And to the best of my knowledge, my older brother and my oldest nephew would be a few of those people who just want to play a game. There were a couple of occasions when he or I played Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 on the PlayStation 2 at a time when we shared the same room. He would complain about the number of cutscenes overlapping the gameplay of both games, which did not sit well for him. On those occasions, I remember him exclaiming “Less movies! More kicking ass!” When I play fighting games with my nephew, he would often skip the character introductions, which last for a few seconds, in order to get to the fight, which is obviously the meat of fighting games. Now I wonder what he would think and how he would feel if he is unable to skip the intros, forcing him to watch them for a few seconds, a few minutes, ten minutes, or even twenty minutes. Based on those observations, I am positive that my brother and nephew would agree with David Jaffe.

Recently, I have read on a 1up article that at last week’s Design Innovate Communicate Entertain (D.I.C.E.) summit, game developer David Jaffe, known as the mastermind behind the Twisted Metal and God of War franchises, expressed his feelings that the video game industry is wasting time and money on story-driven games, which are a disservice to gamers. He argued that by making video games like movies and books, it would take away the one aspect that makes the medium special in the first place: interactivity. The full details of Jaffe’s philosophy can be found in this interview conducted by the game developer website Gamasutra a week after his appearance at the D.I.C.E. summit (Warning: The interview contains strong language. Reader discretion is strongly advised).

As a gamer, I would have to agree with Jaffe on many of the points he made. Video games are not movies nor should they ever be even though most of the former have cutscenes that function like the latter. The main reason most people buy video games is that they want to play with them, plain and simple.  And interactivity is the key. Now before moving on, I would like to briefly discuss video games in terms of cinematics and storytelling. In that regard, they can be divided into three categories: games with a lot of cutscenes, games with less and brief cutscenes that generally last no more than five minutes, and games that use either very few cutscenes or none at all. From off the top of my head, video games that fit the first category are Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs for short), likeXenosaga, Final Fantasy, Valkyria Chronicles, and the tactical espionage action series Metal Gear Solid.  While the cutscenes and storytelling generally don’t overlap the gameplay, they form the core of their respective titles alongside the gameplay. While those games are good enough for the fans, the vast amount of cutscenes just don’t sit well with casual gamers. Video games that have cutscenes lasting at least five minutes include Resistance, Halo, Killzone, Ninja Gaiden, and the story mode of the most recent incarnation of the fighting game Mortal Kombat. While the cutscenes, cinematics, and storytelling in those games are generally good, they do not detract from the action and gameplay, which are placed in higher importance. The third category can be divided into two sub-categories: games that have very little cutscenes and games with none at all. Games that would fit neatly into the former include fighting games like Street Fighter and Tekken because cinematics take a backseat while the gameplay dominates the show. The two best examples of the latter sub-category I can think of are the first-person, third-person shooter, RPG hybrid sci-fi game Fallout 3 and the third-person sci-fi horror franchise Dead Space. From a storytelling perspective, cinematic cutscenes are unnecessary in those games.

There is one more factor in video games that I think is of as important as storytelling, presentation, and gameplay combined: replay value. If you enjoyed the experience of a game, would you go through it again at higher difficulty levels, uncover secrets you may have missed, beat it faster, and enjoy the cinematics and story they present? Is one or more of the said reasons enough to justify the game’s shelf life? Or would you prefer to play the game with other people for a different experience, whether they are sitting next to you or online? What type of game would you prefer? A game that places cinematics, storytelling, and spectacle above gameplay, a game that balances all of these aspects, or a game that makes gameplay the highest priority? Your thoughts on these questions as gamers would be of great interest to me as a gamer. And you are free to express those thoughts in the comments section below, as always.

The Used Games Market: Good for Gamers but Bad for Developers and Publishers?

(Originally posted for The Voice of Heard on February 20, 2012)

I have intended to write about used games for quite some time as it has been a hot button topic on the Internet for the past few years. I felt the need to write about this since I buy used games because they are cheaper than new copies generally costing around $60; but I just could not get around to it since I’ve been struggling to come up with something to say. “It’s about time I write about used games now,” I told myself. My interest in the issue began when I read four articles about it last year and recently rekindled when I read four more just this month. I will start by giving you an objective summarized overview of the said articles, starting with the first four.

The appeal of secondhand or used games is that they are reusable; they have longer shelf life than used fruit and used underwear and do not wear off as the latter examples do. This appeal has seen the rise of a used game market, one well-known example being the video game store chain Gamestop, which profits greatly from games traded-in by gamers. I’m may not exactly be an economist but it has been said that the secondhand games market runs counter to fundamental consumerism, which emphasizes paying money for new products that appear on the market. Game publishers and developers have this type of economic mentality since they acquire money from new games but none from used ones. In recent years, they have developed controversial initiatives to combat the used game market. One example of this is Electronic Arts’ (EA) Project Ten Dollar, which requires gamers who buy EA Sports games secondhand to pay $10 for an EA Online Pass, which contains a redeemable code that enables access to online play, leadership boards, and downloadable content. This move caused uproar among gamers. On May 17, 2011, Mike West, a combat designer at Lionhead Studios who had a part in the development of its role-playing game (RPG) Fable III, told Eurogamer that pre-owned sales are a bigger problem than PC piracy. “[S]econd-hand sales,” he said, “cost us more in the long-run than piracy these days.” Guillaume de Foundaumiere, co-founder of the French development company Quantic Dreams, argued that trade-ins of the PlayStation 3 exclusive Heavy Rain have cost his studio millions of dollars worth of royalties. Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, one of the earliest games for the Nintendo 3DS, did not allow users to delete their save files. Capcom explained that the intent of that decision was to invite “high levels of replayability, encouraging fans to improve mission scores [while also ensuring] that both original and unlocked game content will be available to all users.” To most consumers of the used game market, that design decision was another act against trade-ins like the EA Online Pass and have expressed outrage. I had thought about writing this entry last year based on the overview I just described. However, I have been unable to do so due to various circumstances and the thought about used games have gradually faded from my mind as a result.

The drive to write this entry was rekindled when I read this month’s Gamespot and 1up articles about the used games issue. Jameson Durall, a design director at Volition Inc., sharply criticized the used games market on his blog and warned that the entire industry could “fall apart” because of it. When he talked about the rumor that a new Xbox would prevent gamers from playing secondhand titles (which gamers are less than pleased to hear), he called it “a fantastic change for our business.” Two other developers have criticized the rumor; Adam Badowski, CD Projekt Red’s managing director, said that “blocking used games can be a bad thing” while Matthew Karch, CEO of Saber Interactive, called the method unfair to gamers in general. Aside from all the developer criticism and consumer counter-criticism I have read, I read one curious 1up article. In it, Ryan Winterhalter argued that as much as publishers and developers don’t get money from secondhand games sales, money from some new games sales usually go to the publishers and not the distributors, citing the case of Team Bondi not receiving much money from their game L.A. Noir as an example.

Having just given the overviews and buying two used games a few days ago, I feel I have to express my feelings about the whole issue. As I said in the beginning of this entry, I have a habit of buying used games more than new ones due to their low price, with a few occasional exceptions. Most of the titles I picked are as good as reviews that give high scores say they are. I must note that I realize the difference between playing a game and making a game. From a developer’s perspective, it takes a lot of money and hard work to make a video game. Since money from the secondhand game market goes to the retail stores and not the developers, does it mean that we are paying the stores and not the developers? If that’s the case, do we as consumers have no interest in the well-being and hard work of developers? Do we tend to make developers suffer as we relish in the games they make? Would we throw away the former rather than the latter based on longevity? What do you, the reader, think about the questions raised by the issue of used games and the secondhand market in general?

Original Comment

KenFebruary 27th, 2012 at 9:27 am
You are correct that the secondary market provides no benefit to the developers. I think that, at some point, game consoles and game developers will move to a download-only distribution that will largely eliminate the second-hand market because game licenses will be directly linked to user accounts and their specific consoles. It will be harder to get the newest releases cheaply, but they will eventually be made available once sales drop off. Media products have a “long tail” which means that they can continue to generate revenue for a long time after their release.

Ninja Theory: A Brief History of A Famous/Infamous Video Game Developer

(Originally posted for The Voice of Heard on February 17, 2012)

The official logo of Ninja Theory, first used on November 14, 2004 when the company was "reincarnated" from Just Add Monsters.

When I think about the video game DmC: Devil May Cry (set to be released sometime this year), I wonder whether or not Ninja Theory, the UK-based developer I mentioned in most of my entries on the game, are qualified for the remake/reboot produced by Capcom. With that thought in mind I did some research on the development company, its origins, the people who founded it, and the games they have created and released so far. For the past few days, I surfed through various game websites for as many bits and pieces of information as I could find, jotting down notes as a go. The following information presented here may not be considered the most accurate to those who know the company a little better than I do.

How the Discussion and Judgement of DmC: Devil May Cry is Clouded by Speculation, Opinions, and Sensationalism

(Originally posted for The Voice Of Heard on February 14, 2012)

Ever since my post discussing updates regarding the video game DmC: Devil May Cry, I had wanted to express something that’s been bugging me; I have been bothered by not only how the game (which is still in development and scheduled for release sometime this year) is presented but how any reasonable discussion and judgement of the game is clouded by speculation, opinions, and sensationalism. Ever since I wrote my first entry about it, I tried to examine the upcoming remake/reboot to see if it would really be as good as representatives from the producer Capcom and the developer in charge of the game, Ninja Theory, had claimed or as bad as feared among the Devil May Cry fan base without being muddled by feelings produced as a result of speculation, opinions, and sensationalism. When I look back upon the entries I’ve written thus far, I have nothing but doubt that the game would be of any success either critically or financially. Quite frankly, I no longer see a point in even talking about it anymore. The updates that have been released so far are minuscule and provide very little information about how the game would be any different from and better than its predecessors. A very short preview article on DmC: Devil May Cry from the January 2012 issue of Game Informer Magazine did not help matters either; a majority of comments posted on my original entry have been nothing but spam and contribute nothing to the whole issue (perhaps this is due to the fact that my blog is small and thus relatively unknown on the Internet). Last month, IGN posted an article stating six reasons why Ninja Theory may be able to make Devil May Cry fresh again. How these theories will work in practice remains to be seen. The whole issue itself seems to be depicted an Internet-based mudslinging fest among a majority of fans and game journalists, a comment fueled war between bandwagons of-tradition versus-change. Though this is purely speculation based on opinion, I suspect that this is what Ninja Theory intended this to be as to detract any serious questioning about the game and how they may be bullying the Devil May Cry fan base or trying to induce a sense of guilt in consumers as a way of persuading them into buying the game when it comes out. I have no evidence that supports this. In order to make up for the lack of a mature discussion of DmC: Devil May Cry, I am working on a new entry that examines the history of Ninja Theory as a company, their track record of the games they made so far, and very brief backgrounds on the company’s founders. Though it may be a long shot, I hope the finished entry will help fans decide to see whether or not Ninja Theory is really qualified for the job of remaking/rebooting the Devil May Cry franchise once I post it soon.

Original Comment

Luz
March 24th, 2012 at 12:49 am

Haha yea, it was tough to find stuff to talk about.. talking about the story is pertty complex so couldn’t do that.. I played this game loads early last year.. if you notice like it says 2/18/2008 lol. I am like on Hell and Hell.. which is lame.. I really became rusty as you can see in the crappy gameplay lol. Fun game though even though its been over a year.

Updates on DmC: Devil May Cry: Would That Game Be Worth The Money?

(Originally posted for The Voice of Heard on January 14, 2012)

Last year, I published a few entries on a video game called DmC: Devil May Cry, a remake/rebirth/reboot of Capcom’s franchise currently being developed by western developer Ninja Theory, which was responsible for Heavenly Sword and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and is now facing massive backlash for alienating the major Devil May Cry fan base with its controversial development decisions and question dodging. There has been very little to no new information as to the game’s current progress in development since then aside from the few recent news updates. One of those is the release of three new gameplay videos just last month, each respectively showing off the combat gameplay, the world of Limbo becoming alive and trying to kill Dante (the main protagonist), and something about a so-called “secret area.” Quite frankly, the idea of a living and active environment may sound interesting, there wasn’t anything new gameplay wise that would make the game interesting. It all just seems generic and familiar; by familiar I mean some of the moves I’ve seen performed by the new Dante in combat seem to have been lifted straight from Capcom’s last game in the franchise released at least four years ago, Devil May Cry 4. The message displayed for the first few seconds of the trailers, “images represent a game still in development,” didn’t give me much confidence about the game being good either. For some reason, it seems like DmC: Devil May Cry is being made for the sole purpose of competing with Sega’s Bayonetta, a game developed by the original creator of Devil May Cry, Hideki Kamiya. This concern seems to be reinforced by a recent interview with one of the producers of Capcom’s American branch.

Just a few days ago, I have found two significant updates, one of which may be interesting from a technical perspective but is otherwise minor in the grand scheme of things; the other update raises a few serious questions and concerns. In regards to the former update, Ninja Theory is said to be employing a group specializing in performance capture technology, which played a role in the creation of James Cameron’s 2010 blockbuster movie Avatar, to create the vocal, facial, and body movements of the characters in the game. The latter update is an article from the Official Xbox Magazine (OXM) in which the head developer of DmC: Devil May Cry, Tameem Antoniades, has revealed that his team has received numerous death threats in the form of ‘comic books’ and ‘anti-DmC death metal songs.’ When I read that OXM article a couple of times, a few things have been puzzling and disturbing me. As I understand it, people who receive death threats usually report them to the police. Why hasn’t anybody at Ninja Theory done so when that happened? And how can comic books and death metal songs be death threats, which are generally messages that say someone threatens to kill somebody? No examples of these so-called death threats have been given by Antoniades or anyone else from Ninja Theory, so there is no evidence as to whether the incident actually happened and thus this information cannot be evaluated. It seems to me that this death threat is actually a sensational ruse set up by Ninja Theory for two purposes: attain attention and distract the gaming audience in order to avoid criticism of any kind regarding the game itself.

Based on this relatively new information, I have come to the conclusion that DmC: Devil May Cry may not be worth the money when it comes out sometime this year. As a gamer, this game just turns me off for its mediocrity.  It also pains me to know how the developers of the game are dealing with the negative backlash and trying to save face in ways that alienate gamers. If you find the fairness of this entry questionable, you are free to address it in the comments below. (Note: Recently, I’ve been receiving a lot of spam on my first entry of the whole DmC: Devil May Cry issue. I would really appreciate it if this entry doesn’t receive spam and instead gets more comments that actually make contributions to this topic.)

Original Comment

LilianaMarch 24th, 2012 at 9:58 am


i’m a fan of dmc but i disillusioned with this crap how can sctwih to dante for this crap?I am very disillusioned.I expected eager the new dmc, but not anymore, after seeing this shit, I do not think it will be fun to play

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· Enslaved: Odyssey to the West | Fan Review of Enslaved

[…] Most in-game movie game cinematics suck, and it'd be a good proving ground for your game design.Squandered potential, and I'm not sure who exactly is to blame. Heavenly Sword felt rushed. This gam…felt rushed. This game felt rushed. I want to "believe" that there is real talent in this studio, […]

Recent Updates on DmC: Devil May Cry at TGS 2011

(Originally posted for The Voice of Heard on September 20, 2011)

Last week, I have watched a few new videos of DmC: Devil May Cry, a reboot of Capcom’s popular video game franchise being developed by Ninja Theory. Specifically, the new videos are a trailer and a gameplay demo from this year’s Tokyo Game Show (TGS), the latter of which was recorded by a video camera. The videos have revealed a few new details regarding the gameplay, the setting, the story, and the main protagonist Dante. Speaking of Dante, his face appears cleaner and less like Tameen Antoniades, the creative developer at Ninja Theory, than it did in the debut trailer from last year’s TGS.

“Gamer”: The Very Embodiment of the Negative Video Game Player Stereotype

(Originally posted at The Voice of Heard on September 15, 2011)

Suppose one day you are watching a TV show, reading a book, a newspaper, or a magazine; skimming through the Internet, or strolling in a public place one day when you hear a story that features, discusses, or outright brands stereotypes on a group of people based on a simple yet specific list of traits. You realize that you have a few of those traits but you also know that you are not part of the stereotype described. How do you respond to it? Do you just criticize it in your mind or openly in the presence of your family, your friends, and peers? Would you take action against the portrayal of the stereotype as a means of debunking and dissolving it? Those are the questions you should take into consideration as I once again discuss the problem of the stereotyping of video game players.

Devil May Cry: Reflecting On The Points I Have Made With YouTube Videos

(Originally posted for The Voice Of Heard on August 27, 2011)

In one of my earlier entries, I have stated that I would add some videos in order to prove the points I have made regarding Capcom’s video game franchise, Devil May Cry as a whole and the upcoming reboot by developer Ninja Theory, DmC: Devil May Cry. I have browsed YouTube for the videos that best display the gameplay of the old games and the all of trailers for DmC: Devil May Cry released so far. Part of the reason I have set up this entry exclusively for the videos is that I am experimenting with inserting online videos my blog entries. Since this blog runs on WordPress, this is my first attempt to directly upload the videos into my entries. As it turns out, the best thing I can do at this time is to provide links to the videos. I have also posted links to a few videos by YouTube user EventStatus, which I also did as part on an entry on journalism. This man has made some interesting points and observations regarding the whole Devil May Cry reboot issue. Warning: Some of these videos contain scenes of violence and strong language. Viewer discretion is advised.

\”Original Devil May Cry Gameplay Footage\”

\”Devil May Cry 2 Gameplay footage

\”Devil May Cry 3 Gameplay footage\”

\”Devil May Cry 4 Gameplay footage\”

\”DmC: Devil May Cry TGS 2010 Announcement Trailer\”

\”DmC: Devil May Cry E3 2011 Trailer\”

\”DmC: Devil May Cry Gamescom 2011 Trailer\”

\”DMC Reboot Kills Original Dante Look (Fans May Cry)\”

\”DMC Reboot Kills Original Dante (Part 2)\”

\”DMC Reboot Kills Original Dante (Part 3)\”

Update 2/17/2012: In December 2011, three additional trailers were released. I should note that at the beginning of each trailer, a message is displayed: “images represent a game still under development.” Not much new information is revealed since the uploading of these trailers took place. Given the fact that the game is to be released sometime this year, the results of the final product remain to be seen.

“DmC: Devil May Cry/Demon City Combat trailer”

“DmC: Devil May Cry/The Escape trailer”

“DmC: Devil May Cry/The Secret trailer”

Original Comment

Irina
June 16th, 2012 at 3:59 am


It’s just tough to get used to this new Dante after I have had this image of the old Dante built in my mind for years.It’s not just about being pretty , not that I ever tuhoght Dante was a pretty boy. It’s just about him being cool, looking cool, and talking cool. If it was just about being pretty then Nero would have cut it, but as it turns out, I couldn’t even cope with his character (playing half the game as Nero felt disastrous.)Going way back, I was also disappointed with the second game because I tuhoght they butchered Dante’s personality, luckily they sorted out his personality by the third game. Depend on how this Dante might turn out, I might have yet another reason to hate it. Heh, who am I kidding, I have hated Ninja Theory since forever, so it’s safe to say that any game they develope will be hated by me.Basically, I don’t like how this new Dante is turning out to be, so I won’t be getting this game, since there’s no joy in playing as a character you don’t like. Me hating this team of developers only helps to further assure that I won’t be getting this game. You can go ahead and classify me as a hater and drop that infamous haters gonna hate phrase on me.VN:F [1.9.17_1161](from 0 votes)

Information Regarding DmC: Devil May Cry: An Update

(Originally posted for The Voice of Heard on August 27, 2011)

Since posting my last entry on DmC: Devil May Cry, a reboot for Capcom’s popular video game franchise being developed by Ninja Theory, I did a little more web surfing for additional information; some bits of which I may have known earlier but haven’t posted yet; and others that I haven’t known before or wasn’t aware of at the time I wrote the entry. After doing a little more research, I have found some more of the said information regarding DmC: Devil May Cry.

The Devil May Cry Reboot: The Backlash and A Potential Failure for a Video Game Franchise

(Originally posted for The Voice of Heard on August 22, 2011)

This is the logo when the original Devil May Cry was released in 2001.

Left: Dante in Devil May Cry 4. Right: Dante in DmC: Devil May Cry promotional art.

If you have read my entry on journalism, then you may be familiar with the reboot of Capcom’s video game franchise Devil May Cry and the backlash it is receiving from fans for the changes being made under the Western developer Ninja Theory. Before I discuss the issue with the reboot in more detail, I will give a brief history of the past Devil May Cry games.

The Televised Video-Gamer Stereotype: The Inaccurate Portrayal It Really Is

(Originally posted at The Voice of Heard on July 16, 2011)

Are you familiar with the video game player stereotype? The one portrayed on TV as a lazy, couch potato who spends most of his/her life in a dark basement playing video games for many hours at a time and who is uninterested in other people? As a gamer myself, I find such portrayals as inaccurate in terms of what they do and offensive in terms of who they are as human beings who just happen to play video games as a hobby and a past time. In my old blog, I have covered this issue on a number of occasions, including the ones below:

My Review of Grand Theft Childhood

Perverseness, Obesity, and Depression: Just A Few More Forms of Negative Stereotyping of Video Gamers

I have decided to write this because I just came across a 1up feature called Why Television Hates Video Games, which covers the whole issue of stereotyping video game players on television shows, as well as portraying the video games themselves, console and otherwise, in technically inaccurate ways. News stories regarding the “risk” children face when they play their PlayStation Portables (PSPs) and Nintendo DSs (Duel Screens) are also discussed. The feature can be found here. On another note, I have also covered other issues regarding video games as featured in some news stories, which I will discuss as part of my next feature.

Old Video Game Posts from The Voice of Heard

More than a month ago, I received a notification from WCCA TV13, the local TV station that launched the start of my blogging, requesting that my original blog, The Voice of Heard, be removed from their hosting services since it was not being updated. Upon reading it, I immediately copied and pasted all of my published posts going back to early 2011 as Word documents. In the process, I decided it would be best to re-post some of them in my other blogs; in the case of Cyberjack, all of the posts I've done on video games, with comments included for the sake of completion. With a few edits, image replacements, and link fixes, these posts from The Voice of Heard will be released in a couple of days under the label 'The Voice of Heard (old posts)'. Stay tuned!

I am not Bill Gates: The Misleading Economic Myth of the Asperger's Engineer

After finding a desire to have a career in video games less than four years ago, I enrolled in a game development curriculum offered by Becker College in the Fall of 2013. Two and a half years later, I graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Game Design and attended the commencement ceremony as a formality around five months later. During that time, I have gained valuable insights in the process of game production, development, and design; I became aware of the various software programs involved in those processes ranging from illustration programs like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to game development programs such as GameMaker: Studio, Unity, and Unreal. More importantly, I have acquired enough general know-how to make my own games while also exploring additional options that would make some of my ideas possible. My learning experience was and continues to be invaluable but it was not without hurdles that were compounded by my Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism which impairs my abilities to communicate and socialize while also causing me to process information differently from normal people.

Political, Social, and Moral Ideology vs. the Video Game Industry and Community

From top-left to bottom right: Jack Thompson , Leland Yee, Ronnie Lamb, Anita Sarkeesian, and  Joseph Lieberman 

I'll start off by saying I am completely open to diversity in video games. Depending on the quality, I'm willing to play any game made in North America, Japan, Europe, and even Africa. During my years as a gamer, I have enjoyed playing a number of genres, including First-Person Shooters (FPS), Role Playing Games (RPGs), Beat'em-Ups, fighting games, hack-and-slash action, survival horror, platformers, turn-based strategies, real-time strategies, and the occasional point-and-click adventure. In those games, I've played the role of a variety of characters ranging from cyber-enhanced supersoldiers and supernaturally augmented demon hunters to medieval knights and ordinary people in bizarre circumstances. Overall, I've had a blast with them regardless of their gender, race, creed, and nationality. And I'm willing to spend my hard-earned money on more diverse games as long as they are well-made, well-designed, and deemed to be overall fun. In all the time I've spent playing video games, I have never developed any thoughts of committing suicide, sexual assaults, or public shooting sprees in any way; for that matter, my sense of reality and morality has never diminished and never will. Yet, this is exactly what's been implied by over-protective parents, politicians, social scientists, and pop culture critics when they bring video games into the mass media spotlight and propose various forms of legal restrictions, content regulation, and implementing their agenda in the development and production process based mainly on misinformation and cultural bias.

When will there actually be good video game movies?

Ever since Super Mario Bros. and Double Dragon received Hollywood film adaptations that met with financial flops and critical scorn, video game movies have a reputation of being inferior to the video game source materials on which they are based with very few to no exceptions. Fans who are most familiar with that sort of reputation are sure to remember how the first Mortal Kombat movie tipped the tides of video games movies a little bit, how the Resident Evil films managed to get away with profits in spite of numerous negative reviews among critics and fans, and how Uwe Boll's filmography of House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, and Bloodrayne left the foulest of tastes in the mouths of audiences who have seen them. Such movies were so bad that numerous top 10 lists have been made to determine the worst of the worst, like what WatchMojo and GameTrailers did for their lists. So why do movies based on video games tend to suck?

Buying Video Games: Should You Get a Physical Copy or Download a Digital Version

In a time before the Internet as we now know it even existed, video games were mainly bought from brick and motor stores just like everything else. I was a boy who was introduced to video games via the PC, arcades,  and the third and fourth generation consoles around that time. It was also in those days that my older brother who, with support from our father, would buy and install games the PC and rent Sega Genesis games from a nearby Blockbuster rental store before I even understood the fundamentals of shopping. Now that I'm a more active gamer, I would occasionally order games via Amazon (if I find the price right) and purchase them via the PlayStation Network Store, Xbox Live, and the Wii Shop Channel as downloadable titles on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii in addition to shopping at a local Gamestop. Since I keep an eye out for games of the best quality and have a limited budget, I make a mental list as to which games to buy based on their reputation since their original release, the uniqueness of the game mechanics, and, of course, the asking price. Sometimes I ask myself: do I go for a physical copy or a digital copy?